Justice News

Gang member sentenced to federal prison for killing rival gang member

ATLANTA - Julio Ramos, a/k/a “Sleepy,” was sentenced to federal prison for his involvement in an October 2002 drive-by shooting, resulting in the death of Aldo Vallejo, a rival gang member.

“The Brownside Locos were a street gang whose members engaged in drug trafficking and numerous acts of violence, including at least five murders of rival gang members between 1998 and 2002,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “After many years as a fugitive, Ramos will now serve a lengthy federal prison sentence for his involvement in Vallejo’s death.”

“This case is an example of the lengths the FBI will go to, to bring violent offenders like Ramos to justice,” said J.C. “Chris” Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Atlanta Division. “The violence and indiscriminate exchange of gunfire that took place on our public streets 16-years ago cannot go unpunished and hopefully his sentence will send a message that we will go to any lengths to make sure it doesn’t.”

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court: The Brownside Locos formed in the mid-1990s and members were required to represent the gang by confronting rival gang members. Brownside Locos members obtained status and influence within the gang by committing acts of violence against other gang members. From 1998 to 2003, Brownside Locos members committed numerous acts of violence, including at least five murders, of rival gang members. Members also engaged in drug trafficking to support the activities of the gang.

Ramos became a member of Brownside Locos in 2001. On October 27, 2002, Ramos, Alex Romero, Israel Stalabera, and three other gang members were in a van driven by Romero when they spotted a car being driven by Aldo Vallejo in the parking lot at Plaza Fiesta on Buford Highway in Atlanta. Vallejo and the passengers in his car were members of the rival 18th Street gang. Romero followed Vallejo’s car out of the parking lot at Plaza Fiesta. When Vallejo realized that his car was being followed, he engaged in evasive driving maneuvers in an attempt to get away from the van.

The two vehicles ended up on an access road leading off Interstate 85 North at Sugarloaf Parkway in Gwinnett County, Georgia, when an exchange of gunfire erupted between the rival gangs. Romero pulled the van alongside Vallejo’s car and the defendants fired multiple shots directly into the passenger compartment of the car. Vallejo, mortally wounded from the shooting, wrecked his car on the access road. Two days later, Vallejo died of the injuries he sustained from the shooting. He was 20 years old.

Julio Ramos, a/k/a “Sleepy,” 41, of Atlanta, Georgia was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg to six years, six months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release on October 23, 2018. Ramos, a citizen of Mexico, will be deported upon completion of his prison sentence.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Gwinnett County Police Department’s Gang Task Force.